Aveloz is a succulent plant growing to a height of about 10 meters and is indigenous to tropical areas and rainforests in the Amazon, Madagascar and South Africa. The main trunk and branches are woody and brown but the younger branches are green and cylindrical, looking like so many pencils, which is why it is sometimes called ‘the Pencil Tree.’
It is a tenacious plant that survives changes such as deforestation, drought and advancing deserts where no other plants can.
Before the advent of the white man, the part of South America that is now known as the ‘Hump of Brazil’ was covered with primeval forest. Hot, dry winds have destroyed the region, killing the vegetation right and left and exposing vast expanses of red clay, which is blown away in great dust storms. This systematic deforestation has decimated the entire area, where a miniature desert is taking shape.
Aveloz is the only plant that has withstood all these changes - deforestation, drought and the advancing desert. In fact, it seems to thrive amid the devastation and is spreading on the harsh red clay soil. The Aveloz plant even helps to spread the devastation because of unusual property- it burns any living thing coming into contact with it.
